Samantha Jade on how her late mum’s "shining light" inspired new song.
The aussie pop star drew on her mum’s passion for dancing to create a song about the power of positivity.
Singer, songwriter and actress Samantha Jade knows how much the power of music and dancing can lift a person’s spirit, even in the darkest times.
It’s been 10 years since the "ARIA Award" winner took out "The X Factor Australia" and there have been a lot of of highs and lows in the ensuing decade.
Two years after that win catapulted her into the pop spotlight, Samantha’s beloved mum, Jacqueline, died of cancer.
Among the many gifts her mum gave her before she lost her cancer battle in 2014, one in particular has stayed with her and inspired everything she has done since.
It’s even in the name of her new single, "Dance Again" - the message that song and dance can help you feel positive and get you through, even when the going gets tough:
“My mum was a dancer - she’d been dancing since she was three,” Samantha told "7News.com.au", "She loved to dance, and she would always tell me and my brothers: "Just put on music and dance, and you’ll feel better". And you really do, you feel better afterwards. It expresses things that you probably can’t say, so you can just put music on and do it through just dancing it out. I’ve always kind of known that, and singing does the same thing for me. When i was writing this song, it was literally the time when we couldn’t go out and dance - we couldn’t go to nightclubs or pubs or dance at parties - I was thinking of that, but i was also thinking of my mum. When she got cancer, she was bedridden, she couldn’t really move any more, and she couldn’t dance - that ability was taken away from her. But she still always saw the light in the dark; she always saw the glass as half full.”
Draw the curtain, feels like it’s all over now / Try to pick myself up, but i’ve lost my ground / But there’s a voice inside me saying you know how / How to fight, how to be alive:
“She’s always my inspiration; everything i do now is with her in mind, and for her”, Samantha said, “We were so close and she was such a "light" It was really tough, and it still is.”
The "Bounce" singer, originally from Perth, rode out most of the pandemic lockdown periods from her home base of Sydney with her partner Pat Handlin, walking their new puppy “three times a day” and rearranging the house, “like a lot of other people.”
She stayed in constant touch with her western Australia-based dad, Kevin, with whom she is very close, describing him as her “moral compass”:
“When i was little, i was always saying: "I want to be a singer!". It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be and my dad was never like: "Go get a real job!", she said, “I was so lucky - my dad understood that that’s what i wanted to do and he just backed me. He’s always there and he’s my moral compass. He’s not just a great dad, he’s a great human.”
Samantha told "7News.com.au" she wanted "Dance Again" to have an uplifting, anthemic feel - to remind people that dark clouds can have a silver lining:
“I really wanted to put out something with some heart and some substance”, she said, "There’s been so much craziness with COVID-19, so it’s been a weird time in the industry. I’ve been in the studio and i’ve been doing the other side of the job, the recording process, so i’d forgotten how it feels to have a song out there in the World. It’s an exciting time though because you can feel this shift now, this passion for music and for seeing people performing live. For a lot of people, music really helped get them through COVID-19, through lockdowns.”
Rather than being apprehensive about getting out amongst the public and performing live again, Samantha is ready and raring to go:
“For any artist to tour, it’s the most fun, you get to perform these songs that you’ve created and dreamt of performing for so long”, she says of the long hiatus during COVID-19, "Get me out there! It’s been 10 years since "The X Factor Australia", so it would be wonderful to do something around that. There is something about singing live that is just so rewarding and there’s a feeling i get from it that i literally don’t get from anything else. It truly makes my soul happy.”
When the World’s too much and i’ve had enough / And i’m ‘bout to break / I remember there’s so much more to this / And my heart’s awake / And i’m gonna dance again
Samantha has also dabbled in acting, playing Isla Schultz in "Home And Away" and taking on the role of Kylie Minogue in "Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story Of INXS".
She’s still open to acting “if the right project comes along”, but making music remains the main focus.
As for "Dance Again" - a taster for an EP to be released later this year - she had one simple goal: “Just to have people sing along”:
“You know, you’re in the car and you’re driving and singing along to the radio, or you’re at home and you put on your favourite song”, she said, “Or you’re at home and you’re putting on your makeup, or cleaning the house. i wanted that kind of anthemic, singalong vibe - just for it to be uplifting and for it to make you feel good.”
Samantha Jade’s new single "Dance Again" is out now.
Credit: [X]
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